


kitchenettes

by brandywine421



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 07:04:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17955833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: It's only after the screams settle into steady sobs and wails that he fully accepts the situation. These gunman, coordinated and well-trained, have taken over the community theater on Kid's Talent Show night.The Hell's Kitchenettes, all ten little girls that can't go to ballet without a subway or regular ride to get them there, are scheduled to perform their interpretive dance routine called 'Prohibition and Me' dressed as tiny little cigarette girls with the highest kicks they can make in their leotards without ripping the seams.Matt knows this because Foggy's been whining about missing it for days. For Hell's Kitchen, it's just another flier pasted to the overfilled bulletin boards around town but for the Nelson family - it's the event of the year.





	kitchenettes

**Author's Note:**

> DJ Clawson is feeling under the weather and probably needs a hug. That would totally be a violation of my personal space rules, so I wrote a flash!fic instead.
> 
> My auto-generated prompt was "Run!" even if it only inspired the fic and didn't make it into the actual story. If this even counts as a story.

 

It's only after the screams settle into steady sobs and wails that he fully accepts the situation. These gunman, coordinated and well-trained, have taken over the community theater on Kid's Talent Show night.

The Hell's Kitchenettes, all ten little girls that can't go to ballet without a subway or regular ride to get them there, are scheduled to perform their interpretive dance routine called 'Prohibition and Me' dressed as tiny little cigarette girls with the highest kicks they can make in their leotards without ripping the seams.

Matt knows this because Foggy's been whining about missing it for days. For Hell's Kitchen, it's just another flier pasted to the overfilled bulletin boards around town but for the Nelson family - it's the event of the year.

 

* * *

 

He clears the alley first - always clear the exits - and dials his burner with six of the thugs zip-tied in the van he's hiding behind.

" _Mahoney_."

"Got a problem." He waits for the detective to finish cursing his birth to continue. "Dennis Theater's been taken over by a bunch of armed assholes."

Brett goes silent. "Ma's in there."

He adds another to the tally. "I'm about to be in there. There's a van beside O'Halloran's, left six guys in the back. Dropped the guns in the storm drain."

"We're sending SWAT - "

"Good. Tell them to hurry, I don't know how many are inside. I ripped the wires out of something and their comms are offline."

He pockets the phone when heavy boots pound toward the exit doors from the inside and he's ready.

Three more zip-ties and he's inside.

 

* * *

 

"Pretty sure this is the number one way to lose a custody battle," Matt mutters under his breath when he takes down the guy mid-bark into his phone. He stomps the cell and settles his senses to search for the cluster of panicked heartbeats he'd followed down this hallway.

He stops counting at forty-three and decides to take his chances on a light audience - but he has no idea how many people come to child talent shows on a weeknight. The Kitchenettes deserve a full house according to their fans.

The lock takes him a few seconds longer than he anticipates and the door swings open before he turns the knob. He barely ducks the swing and splinter of something heavy and wood.

" _Shit_ , Matt, I'm so sorry!" Theo says in a rush.

Matt feels the building fall down around him.

"Dammit, Anna, didn't you raise your boy better than that? Daredevil - are you all right, dear?" Bess Mahoney's tone shifts from sharp to soothing in the same breath.

"Is anyone hurt?" he asks, forcing himself not to react.

"Theo's about to be, but no - did you get the kids?" Ed asks as the room forms from the echo. This is a huge storage room - props and thick costumes.  He should go to a play soon - if he survives this without jail - so he has context in the future.  The acoustics are more than he expects since he's not in the main auditorium.

"I'm so sorry," Theo whispers.

"Fog told you?" Matt asks even though he doesn't mean to. _Fuck_ , he's dumb - way to confirm it, Murdock.

"Of course not, he'll carry your secret to his grave!" Anna responds. Ed elbows her hard. "Oh. Right."

Theo shushes them both, sounding too much like his big brother for Matt to handle at the moment. "DD, none of that matters right now - "

"How many floors in this building, three or is there a basement?" Matt asks when he can tell Bess is keeping the others from crowding close enough to hear.

"One, but there's a catwalk and the orchestra connects under the stage, so - " Ed hesitated.

"Ruthie's - "

Matt shifts to face Anna. "Ruthie's with them? Is she wearing the insulin pump thing?" He senses her nod. "I can find her, can you get everyone out through the fire exit?"

"The cops won't shoot us?" Theo asks.

He steps into the hallway again and grabs the bag of phones he found on his way in. "Don't let them raid the building until - "

_"You want us to cut the lights?"_

_"The kids will know what to do if the lights go out - "_

Wait, _what_?

"Just go, we'll get out, Daredevil," Bess orders.

He's too confused to argue and he has shit to do.

 

* * *

 

He takes back everything he thought about the thugs being coordinated and well-trained after he knocks out the punk watching the room full of amateur talent. Children are not his favorite - in the wild they're too unpredictable - but at least none of them cry or scream when he opens the door. He knows it's dark, the power switched off before the adults started for the exit as directed.

Ruthie's thin arms latch around his waist but she doesn't drop his name so he doesn't make her let go, instead shifting her onto his hip.

"Anybody hurt?" He waits for the answer before asking the next question. "Anybody missing?"

"Donnie J," someone says. "Her daddy took her down the hall."

"Okay, can you guys stay here while I go find her?"

Ruthie nods, kisses his cheek and scrambles down. "Hurry."

 

* * *

 

"Bunch of X-Box wannabe soldiers," Brett's saying when he makes his way to O'Halloran's roof after Donnie J's safely back with the Kitchenettes and her Daddy's safely in the arms of SWAT.

His real phone buzzes before he can catch who the cop's talking to and he slides in his bluetooth so he can hear the text. "OMG CALL ME ASAP."

Right, like he's calling Foggy back after his family outed him in front of all the Kitchenette-adjacent locals.

"SERIOUSLY. MOM IS SO MAD. I DONT KNOW WHAT I DID."

"OMG WHAT DID YOU DO?"

He switches off the phone.

**Author's Note:**

> ♥


End file.
